


Carry On, Cather

by LumosGoLucky



Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Angst, Characters Reading Fanfiction, F/M, Fanfiction, Fluff, I Blame Tumblr, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Reading Aloud, SnowBaz, Why Did I Write This?, carry on, cathxlevi, chapter 61, come on we all know what happens there, fanfic angst i mean, levi is a cinnamon roll, literally cath is the only one with writing angst, magicath, rainbow rowell is one of the best authors, snowbaz being angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-04-30 22:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14506626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LumosGoLucky/pseuds/LumosGoLucky
Summary: In which Cath and Levi are crashing at his house for the night. Soon enough, Snowbaz fanfiction reading ensues.Based off of this OTP prompt on Tumblr: "Imagine person A of your otp is reading a book late at night and person B can’t sleep so they ask person A to read to them so person A starts reading out loud and a few minutes later person B is completely knocked out and person A gives them a kiss on their forehead."First work posted on here. Part of a scene from "Carry On" is featured converted into third-person.





	Carry On, Cather

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello! This is my first one-shot/story so the characters might be OOC, it might be crap, etc. Go easy on me.
> 
> If, by some miracle, you do like it, comments and kudos are appreciated. As is constructive criticism.

"I can't sleep."

Cath sighed and took yet another minute to look away from her laptop screen. Ever since Simon Snow and the Eighth Dance was released months ago (Cath hadn't managed to brainwash Gemma T. Leslie into making Simon and Baz completely canon, but it was close), Carry On hadn't gotten as much hype as it used to, but Cath still got tons of hits every day and just as many comments. 

She was still active. There was no doubt about that. Back to writing the short stories and "what-if" scenarios she had always written. Little SnowBaz one-shots, sometimes angst but enough fluff to drown a group of cotton candy-bloated unicorns. But nothing ever seemed as big as Carry On anymore. Sure, the stories still got awards on the contests and all that other stuff, but Carry On had been _huge_. It had been the climax of Cath's fanfic writing career. And now it was over.

Which was not to say that she had run out of story ideas. After Professor Piper had given her some more tips, Cath had started spewing ideas like a writing prompt volcano. Her mind had completely overflowed, and she'd tripped and just kept falling, her hands darting across the keyboard and leaving behind trails of words and imagery and similes, which could be sometimes good and sometimes trash. Her new stories, realistic and fantastical and sometimes a mix of the two, were getting better as she went. But fanfiction would always have a special place in Cath's heart.

Now that she was writing original stuff, it got a bit harder. With Simon and Baz, she knew them. She knew them inside and out, through and through, no questions asked. But making up new characters was like deciding to be friends with strangers: you warmed up to them eventually, but at first they could be as unwelcoming as running through fire or walking through the streets half-naked. And sometimes it felt like Cath was never going to open up to the characters, ever.

But no matter what chaos she went through, her friends were always there. Wren to beta any new one-shots she wrote. Reagan to make snarky remarks and the usual offhand compliments. And then there was Levi.

Always Levi.

Waiting for her when she got back from somewhere, on her bed, eating a Blueberry Bliss bar. Handing her a gingerbread latte halfway throughout the day (it was getting cold again, and Christmas wasn't far away). Sneaking up from behind and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Nuzzling his head into her hair when she was stressed out. Even the little things, like fangirling over Simon Snow, mattered.

Except for the fact that Levi could also be very distracting.

"I'm trying to work, Levi," she muttered. Both of them were at Levi's house that afternoon after he had begged Cath to stay with him while he took a nap (he'd been studying for another literature test the night before), and she was trying to get some new ideas for the sequel to Carry On.

An actual, effing sequel.

She was probably insane, but the thought was nevertheless a possibility. Maybe something next-generation. It would be cool to see how things played out after the major bombshells she'd dropped, not to mention that she'd given Simon wings and a tail. A cartoon devil's tail. Many Penelope would marry Micah and Agatha would find someone else. That would be fun.

But after Carry On, she wasn't sure if she was up for the challenge. She didn't want to be one of those authors who ruined their name by writing crap after something good.

Levi shook his head jokingly. "You know, sometimes I think you love Baz more than me."

"It's close," Cath deadpanned, "but we're secure in our relationship."

"You bet." Levi sat up. "But whatever the case is, stop writing for a while. Come over here." He sat up and beckoned her over.

She sighed and prepared to shut down her laptop, but he stopped her. "Uh-uh, not yet. I told you to stop writing."

"I bet I can guess what you actually want," she muttered as he pulled her in so her back was pressed against his chest. "Carry On?"

He nodded fervently and she groaned, resigned. "Why?"

"I like your fics, Cather. And you know I'm not an Internet person."

"Why is it always me who has to read, though?" she protested.

"I like your voice," he said easily, kissing her on the top of her head. "Plus, it's only fair that the author should read it when she can, right?"

Cath shook her head in defeat and clicked into her Simon Snow fanfic folder on her computer, then the Carry On file. "Fine. Which part were we on again?"

"We were around the part before the middle where Simon was about to find Baz in the forest. The good part." His eyes glittered with mirth as he raised his eyebrows in her direction.

"Oh," she said, feeling a wave of apprehension enter her. The first kiss.

That part had gotten her the most comments on her fanfic by far. There were mostly short compliments, some long rants on how awesome and well-written the scene was (which she always wrote a heartfelt reply to), and a few SnowBaz haters, their comments immediately drowned in replies defending Magicath and Wrenegade or how SimonxAgatha was trash. 

Cath wondered if Levi would like it. She hoped he did, but, well...

"Are you sure?"

"Obviously."

"All right, then." She made herself comfortable and waited as he nestled his chin into her hair, eyebrows raised. "Ready?"

"Ready," he said, smiling. He closed his eyes.

_"Baz!" Simon yelled, running through the forest. "Baz!"_

_He could see something ahead. A spark. Something flickering. His foot caught on a tree branch and he tripped. The spark was turning into a blaze. Fire._

_"Fuck off, Snow!" he heard Baz yell somewhere in the distance. He followed the sound of Baz's voice, running towards the light. Baz was there, sitting underneath a tree with his head in his arms. Another stream of fire sprayed and caught on a branch._

_"What are you doing?" he asked disbelievingly. His mind was muddled with confusion. Then, all of a sudden, realization came crashing down, and his blood seemed to freeze._ No.

_"Put it out." It was useless trying to pretend he didn't care any longer. Simon could already hear the desperation in his voice. Baz didn't answer. The blaze was spreading all around them now, enveloping everything in a hellish glow of embers and flickering flames._

_"Baz, it's all right." Simon tried to stay calm. "We'll just get the name from someone else or something. This isn't over, not yet. We're going to do what your mother wanted us to."_

_Baz howled, a wounded, broken noise like a trapped animal. He swung his wand carelessly, spraying yet another wave of fire around them. "_ This _is what my mother wanted for me, you bloody idiot!"_

_Simon dropped to his knees and tried to make sense of the situation. His head spun from confusion. "What are you even talking about, Baz?"_

_Baz growled angrily, impatient. He sneered, baring all of his teeth. His canines looked like a wolf's - sharp and ready to tear you to shreds. "My mother died killing vampires, Snow. And when they bit her, she killed herself. It's the last bloody thing she did. If she knew what her son was, what_ I _am, she would never have let me live."_

_"That's not true," Simon insisted. "She loved you. She called you her 'rosebud boy'."_

_"She loved who I_ was _!" Baz yelled. "I'm not that boy now. I'm one of_ them _."_

_"You're not." The firelight was dancing all around them now._

_"Haven't you been trying to prove that I'm a monster? Ever since we were kids? Well, Crowley, you have your proof now, don't you? Go tell the mage, go tell Bunce, Wellbelove, everyone, that you were right! Let me go up in flames for all you care. I'm a vampire and so be it. Well, Snow, are you happy now?"_

Cath looked at Levi. His eyes were wide and he was giggling madly, pressing one hand to his mouth.

"You're ruining the moment," she said. "This is serious."

"I know," he said, fanning his face with one hand. "This is so angsty and - well, well-written - but it feels like a private moment. I can't take it." He giggled some more and then burst out laughing.

She just shook her head in disbelief and kept reading.

_Simon couldn't understand why he was crying now. "You're not," he kept on saying, over and over, making it true. "You've never even bitten anyone."_

_Baz just seemed more annoyed. "Fuck. Off."  
_

_"No."  
_

_He dropped his head into his hands. "Seriously, go. This fire isn't for you."_

_Simon grabbed his wrists and pulled at him, trying to haul him up. "That's right. It can't be. You always said there was going to be an audience when you finished me off." Simon tugged Baz's wrists harder, with mounting desperation. "Come_ on _."_

_Baz did nothing. He just slumped forward, defeated, shoulders caving in on themselves. Simon grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him. "Baz."_

_"Go away, Snow."_

_"You're not a monster," Simon said. Despite the fire around them, Baz's skin was colder than a corpse's. "All those years. I was wrong. I was so wrong. You're a bully, and a pretentious snob, and a complete and total asshole. But you're not one of_ them _."_

_Baz tried to jerk his face away, but Simon held still. He was crying now too, or maybe it was just sweat from the flames. His eyes were deep and full of grey and black. And pain. There was so much pain. Simon couldn't stand it much longer._

_"This is what I deserve," he said, almost pleading with Simon._

_"Well, it's not_ _what_ I  _deserve," Simon said stubbornly, shaking his head._

_"Then_ go _."_

_The fire flickered in his eyes. Clouds of sparks drifted too close._

_Simon knew he could push Baz away and watch him go up in flames like flash paper. That easily, one of his biggest enemies for years could be gone, just like that, without a trace. But Baz wasn't his enemy anymore, not really. Those years of hatred were over and done with now._

_"I won't." Simon took a deep breath for what he was about to say next. "I've never turned my back on you. And I'm not starting now."_

Cath turned back to Levi to see his reaction. His eyes were focused, intent, on the screen, his lips curled into a wide smile.

She shoved him lightly. "You keep ruining it."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," he said, "but they're just so  _cute_. And the story's so good."

Cath shook her head again in indignation, though her cheeks heated slightly at the compliment. "Do you want me to keep going or not?"

"Of course." He wrapped his arms around her again. "Carry on, Cather."

* * *

That section of Carry On had so much SnowBaz fluff in it, Cath could barely read it.

There was, of course, the kiss. Honestly, all of the dramatic scenarios in the world, and she chose in a forest at night where one of the characters was about to commit suicide by burning. She was kind of proud of it, actually. And all the other kisses afterward.

She finished the last sentence of the chapter and turned to look at Levi, only to find he was fast asleep. There was a carefree, gentle smile on his face, and he looked more innocent while he was sleeping than he did in real life, curled up and features relaxed.

She shut her laptop and looked outside. It was getting dark out, and the sky was in that strange blue-black mode between navy and black. Pitch black.

Cath pulled on her winter coat, hanging on a hook by the door. She put away her laptop and grabbed her bag, winding her scarf around her neck. She tucked a blanket over  Levi, then kissed him gently on the forehead.

Just as she was about to leave, she turned back to the young man snoring gently on the couch and smiled.

She thought of Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha and their fight against the Insidious Humdrum. She thought of four mages combatting against evil to save what was dearest.

She thought of two twin sisters, one with glasses who wrote fanfictions and one who betaed them with pixie-cut hair. She thought of snarky remarks coming from a girl with auburn hair. She thought of a friendly boy with blond hair and easy smiles.

Both stories separate and so different from each other, but so comfortable at the same time.

"Sleep well, Levi."

And as Cather Avery set off to her dorm, she thought that despite the stress, life could be a lot worse. And even if it was, her friends were there. Not mages. Ordinary humans. But still there.

And nothing could ever change that.

 


End file.
